Melt For Me (Against All Odds Book 3) by Elisabeth Naughton Read Free Book Online

glancing over Ella’s shoulder toward him. “The pipe and cables that run to the meter box on the side of the building are sliced. Like with a chainsaw, I’m guessing. Someone purposely cut the power to this building. I already called my father. He’s on his way over.”
    Ella turned and looked toward Tate, and he saw the quick flash of fear in her eyes before she angled away from him. “Shit.”
    “I know,” Kelly said softly. “You’re going to need to call the police.”
    Ella nodded once, then moved for the stairs. With one hand on the railing, she stopped and glanced back. “Did they clear the highway?”
    “Yes,” Faith answered. “Landslide’s clear, and the road’s open again.”
    Ella shot a look at Tate. And before the words were even out of her mouth, he knew what she was going to say. “Good. Then I guess you won’t be late for your gig in Miami.”
    She jogged up the steps and disappeared, and as soon as she did, Faith and Kelly both stared at him with wide eyes.
    “What was that all about?” Faith asked.
    “I’m guessing that means things did not go so well,” Kelly said with a sigh.
    No, they’d gone better than he ever could have hoped. As Tate looked up the stairs after Ella, he couldn’t stop one side of his mouth from ticking up in a smile. Even if she was freaking out right now, she still wanted him. He’d felt it when she’d been in that vulnerable state between sleep and consciousness, straddling his hips and rubbing against him. A woman who wasn’t the least bit interested didn’t do that—awake or asleep.
    His smile faded when he thought about someone sabotaging Ella’s pub, though. He looked back at the women. “What’s going on here? Who would want to cut the power to this place?”
    “I don’t know,” Faith answered.
    Kelly flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “Best guess is one of the buyers she keeps putting off.”  
    “She’s still going through with that?” Faith turned toward Kelly. “I thought she’d decided to stay.”
    Kelly huffed. “She’s not staying. She just doesn’t have enough money to say yes yet. She’s stringing them along, hoping she’ll have what she needs in a few months.”
    Ella was selling the bar? Tate looked between the women. “Where’s she planning to go?”
    “The Keys,” Kelly answered. “She’s been wanting to sell since Kyle passed, but he left her with a lot of debt, and she couldn’t go until she could turn a profit on the bar for Gillian.”
    “Her leaving is going to kill Gillian.” Faith sighed.
    Tate was having trouble keeping up. “Who is Gillian?”
    “Kyle’s mother.” Kelly crossed her arms over her chest. “She just loves Ella. Gillian was at her book club last night, which is the only reason you didn’t meet her. She’s at the bar most nights.”
    It hadn’t occurred to Tate that Ella would have family around from the dead husband’s side, but this had been his bar, so it made sense. “Does she work here?”
    “No,” Kelly answered. “She just likes to come over and mingle. I think it makes her feel closer to Kyle.”
    “She won’t take any of Ella’s money.” Faith eyed her friend.
    “I know.” Kelly frowned. “But you know how much Ella blames herself for the accident and taking Gillian’s only child away from her.”
    “It was just that, though,” Faith said. “An accident.”
    Tate wanted to ask more about the accident, but before he could, Faith added, “Why do you think one of the potential buyers would mess with the bar? They want a bar that works. Not one that has trouble.”
    “They want her to sell,” Kelly answered. “I hate to think one of them could have done something like this, but she’s been stringing those buyers along for almost two years. I could totally see one of them getting antsy and trying to force her to sell.”
    Faith frowned. “That would be pretty crappy, especially now. They have to know how tough this week is for her.”
    Kelly